Oven-heat regulator



B. E. IVIEACHANL OVEN HEAT REGULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-'3; 1921.

Patented June 27 m2.

BIAQLZSI ("1cm may,

"has

,termined degree.

One object of my invention is to automati- BENJAMIN EDWIN MEACHAM, OFLORAIN, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN STOVE COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS,MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY:

OVEN-HEAT REGULATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patntgd June 1922,

Application filed January 3, 1922!. Serial No. 434,714.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN E. MEAQHAM, a citizen of the United States,residin at Lorain, in the county of Lorain and %t 7 new and usefulImprovements in Oven-Heat Regulators, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.10

My invention relates to improvements-in oven heat regulators, and itpertains to that class of heat regulators for ovens, which are designedto maintain apredetermined degree of heat within the oven for cookingpurposes. I g It is well known to those skilledin this art that whentheoven door is opened for the inspection of the cooking food, or'for anyother purpose, the temperature of the oven is lowered, therebymaterially varying the desired predetermined degree of heat.

It is also well known to those skilled in the art that in the class ofoven heat requlatorsto which this invention pertains, that after theoven has. reached the predetermined heat, a full flame isnot necessaryto maintain the predetermined degree of heat, and as a consequence, thethermo member partially closes the gas valve controlling the burner andholds the flame reduced sufficiently to maintain the heat at thepredecally cause the full opening of the burner valve when the oven dooris opened, so that the burner is'operating at-maximum the instant theoven door is opened, which, to some extent, prevents the cooling of theoven by furnishing an increased heat therein, and the full flame of theburner after the oven door is closed quickly re-establishinge thereinthe" predetermined degree of heat;

In this class of oven heat regulatorsf there I ption of. the door pivotis immaterial to the is provided a regulating wheel or handle,

the dial, which will move, set, or regulate the thermo member, so thatit will control and maintain the fuel valve in proper posi-;-

tion to regulate the flame for providing and maintaining the desireddegree of heat.

Another object of my invention is to so construct the parts of the heatregulator ate of Ohio, have invented certain on the line 2 2 OfFig. 1.

that the setting or regulating member is lo cated 1n the oven door,wheregit is convenient for operation, immediately in view of the user atthe oven door, whereby the degree of heat is also before the user, makmgerrors in setting it less liable to happen, and being frequently beforethe user, an

error in setting; will be detected, and it pro vides an attractivelocation. i

A further object-of my invention isto locate not only the regulatingmember in. the oven door, but also the thermo member, so that when theoven door is open,,the thermo member is moved into a cooling zone whereitis quickly affected and moves consider ably towards its normalposition, whereby the fuel valve remains open until the thermo member isagain heated to the regulated degree, andwhereby the full orapproximately the full flame of the burner quickly re-establishes thepredetermined degree of heat in the oven after the door is closed.

scrlption.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a gas stove oven, showing the oven doorand gas-supply pipe partially in section to expose the operating partsof my present improvement. Fig. 2 is a vertical central sectional viewFig. 3 is a detached top plan view of the contact blocks.

F ig. 4 is a detached front view of the dial indicating member, and itsoperating handle.

My present improvement may be applied to any form of gas oven. Forillustrative purposes, I have shown it applied to a stove having an openburner top 1 and an oven 2 :"Fthere :-below, provided with the usualdoor I have here shown the oven door 3 pivoted atgits lower edge,'as at4, but theloca-' carrying out of 'my invention, which is vided with aninner main and an outer wall 6, usual the door panel. Incarrying or bodywall 5,

ent improvement, theiregnlatirig'mechanism and V the thermo i nemberzare "located between the panel andvwall of the door and are,

therefore, within the door. In this location it is protected from injuryand from being meddled with byv unskilled persons. 7

Various forms of regulating and thermo members may be used-in carryingout the broadinventiveidea of my present improvement, whereby the fuelsupply is opened wide when the oven door is opened forprowlower' endsuitably connected to a disk or other oscillating member 8. As hereshown,

this member Sis shown in the form of a disk,

which is 'ourn'aled in asuitable ,housing 9, and which is attachedto orcarried by the lower edge of the door-frame 10.- The upper end of thislever 7 is provided with a toothed segment 11, with which a pinion 12meshes.

This pinion 12 is carried by a shaft 13 which has its inner end- 14supported by a suitable bracket 15, which depends from tht upper edge ofthe door frame 10.' The outer end of the shaft extends through the doorpanel 6 and is provided with-a suitable handle 16, here shown in theform ofa fluted or roughened' wheel. A pointer or indicator hand 17 hasits upper end connected to the shaft 13 and its lower free end restingagainst the outer side of the curved dial plate 18. The

lower end of this dial plate 18 has'an L-bend I the door panel 6 19,that is riveted or-otherwise connected to below a curved opening 20,which is formed in the door panel. This opening 20 is of a curvecorresponding to the curve of the dial-plate 1 8,an the opening isclosed by a suitable transparent member 21 held to the outsideof thepanel bya suitable housing er member 22. A vertically arrangedthermomember 23 has its lower end 24 suitably connected to an arm or pro-Lecti n 25 of the oscillating member 8, ,wherey when the handle 16'isrotated to carry the pointer hand 17 to the desired degree on the dial18, the upper free end 26' ofwthe thermo-member-23 is moved eithertoward or away from the inner end of a valve controlling'rod 27.This'rod 27 is suitably supported in bearings 28, which arefastened tothe wall 5 *ofthe door and are shown in section. The outer end of'therod27" carries' what may be termed a contact block 29,

adapted to engage a contact block 30. on the valve house 32 and isattached to the fuel controlling valve. 33. ;This valve 33 controls theflow of gas through the pipe 34 to the burner 35. Anordinaryhand-operated gas valve 36 is located in'the gas supply 37 abovethe housing 33, whereby the gas may be entirely shut off from theregulating mechanism. A ilot pipe 38 has its lower end 39 adjacent t eburner 35, and itsupper end 40 communicating with the gas supply abovethe housing 31, whereby the pilot con- .tinues to burn irrespective ofthe operation of the fuel valve 33.

The spring41 on the inner end of the rod 27 and the spring 42 engagingthe fuel valve 33, serveto normally hold the fuel'valve open. r Y

In operation the hand-operated valve 36 is opened and the burner 35 islighted, which in turn lights the pilot 39. The pointer 17 may be eitherset to the desired degree of heat indicated --by the dial 18, before orafter lighting the burner '35, the food to be cookedhaving been laced inthe oven, the burner is lighted.

he thermo member 23 1s composed of a combination of metals well known,and which form no part of my present invention, whereby as it becomesheated the valve controllin rod 27, and its set position by the hand e16 in respect to the rod 27 is such that it' will push the rod 27 andoperate the.fuel valve 33 to maintain the degree of heat within the ovenindicated by the position of the pointer 17 on thedial 18. In thisoperation of the thermo member, the fuelvalve at first remains wide openuntil the thermo member begins to act to close the fuel valve by pushingthe rod 27, and the fuel valve is partially closed when the thermomemberis deflected by the heat of the oven to maintain the heat at thepredetermined degree. When the oven door is opened, the thermo member 23is moved out of contact with the inner end of the rod '27 andthe-springs 41 and 42 instantly open the fuel valve wide, so that theburner 35 is furnishing the maximum flame while the V ment of the thermomember depending upon- .it curls or bends toward the inner end of thelength of time the oven-door is open.

By this arrangement the fuel valve is wide open and the burner flame atmaximum while the oven door is open, and after? the door is closed theopen position ofthe fuel valve is'increased from what it wasbe'fore thedoor was open, thus increasing the burner flame, which,in someinstances, may

- reestablished when-the oven door is closed.

By this arrangement of parts," I" am enabledto prevent-themateriallowering' of the temperature in the oven for any sub stantiallength oftim e, by epeningmf the oven door. 3-.

The contact blocks 29 andy-30'hav th eir opposite ends tapered as at29"-'and.-.3O

whereby they slide by each other in the.

closing of the oven door when the door has not been opened sufficientlylong to mate rially affect the thermo member 23,to permit the retractionof the rod 27.

Having thus described my. invention what I claim and desireto secure byLetters Patent is:-

l. The combination with an oven having adoor and a burner, of a fuelvalve for the burner, athermo member affected by the heat of the burnerfor controlling the. fuel valve, and means: cooperating with thethermo-member causing the opening of the fuel valve when the oven door.is opened.

2. Thecombination with an oven having a door and a burner therefor, of afuel valve for the burner, a thermo member afiected by the ovenheat andcontrolling the fuel valve, means controlled by the oven door andcooperating with the thermo-member causingv the opening of the fuelvalve when the oven'door is open.

3. lln-a mechanism of the character de scribed, an oven having a door; aburner for the oven, a fuel valve for the burner, a thermo memberaffected by the oven heat and controlling the fuel valve, and meanscontrolled by the oven door for breaking the operative connectionbetween the thermo member and the fuel valve whenthe oven door isopened, for the purpose described.

4. A mechanism of the character described,

comprising an oven having an oven door, a

burner for the oven, a fuel "valve for the burner, a thermo memberoperatively connected with the fuel valve for controlling it,

and means for breaking the operative con-' nection between the thermomember and the fuel valve when the oven door is open, for thepurposedescribed.

l 5. A mechanismof the character described, comprising an oven door anda burner for the oven, a fuel valve for the burner, a thermo memberoperatively connected with the fuel valve, and means cooperating withthe thermo-member for moving the thermo member out .of the heat zone'ofthe oven and opening the fuel valve when the oven door is open.

6. A mechanism of the character described, comprising an oven having anoven door, a burner, a fuel valve for the burner indemember carried bythe oven door, ativel-y connected with the fuel valve when the doorisclosed, but out of operative connection with the fuel valve when thedoor pendent of the door, and a thermo member carried by the oven doorand operatively connected with the fuel valve, whereby the valve isoperated by the opening of the door.

7. A mechanism of the character described, compr1s1ng an oven, havmg anoven door,

a burner therefor, a fuel valve for the burnenindependent of the door, athermo and operis open. .7

8. A mechanism of the character described, comprising an oven having anoven door, a fuel valve outside of the door, a thermo member carried bythe door, a two-part connect-ion between the thermo member and the fuelvalve, one part of the connection carried by the .oven door, wherebywhen the oven dor is opened the fuel valve is permitted to also open.

9.- A mechanism of the character described, comprising an oven having adoor, a burner therefor, a fuel valve outside of the door, a

thermo-member, a valve stem independent of the door and adapted'fto beengaged by the adjacent end of the endwise movable member when the dooris closed and disengaged when the door is open.

11. A heat regulating mechanism for an oven,'comprising an oven having alatterly swinging door carrying a thermo-mechanism, a fuel valveindependent of the door and adapted to be closed by the heating of thethermo-mechanism when the door is closed, and the fuel valve opened whenthe door is moved latterly open.

12. A heat regulating mechanism for ovens, comprising an oven doorcarrying a vertical rod pivoted at one end to the door, a verticalthermo-member connected with the pivoted end of the rod, a fuel valveindependent of the door, and means between the thermo-member and thevalve for operating the latter when the door is opened and closed.

In testimony signature.

whereof I hereunto aflix my

